29 states to FDA: Toughen e-cigarette rules

Saturday

Aug 9, 2014 at 12:01 AMAug 9, 2014 at 10:27 AM

NEW YORK - Attorneys general from 29 states, including Ohio, urged the Food and Drug Administration yesterday to strengthen its proposed regulation of electronic cigarettes to better protect young people from nicotine addiction.

NEW YORK — Attorneys general from 29 states, including Ohio, urged the Food and Drug Administration yesterday to strengthen its proposed regulation of electronic cigarettes to better protect young people from nicotine addiction.

In a letter, the attorneys general asked the FDA to prohibit flavors other than tobacco and menthol, and to restrict advertising and marketing for e-cigarettes as strictly as it does for cigarettes, according to a news release from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

In April, the FDA proposed rules that would ban the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone younger than 18. It marked the agency’s first step toward regulating the $2 billion industry.

“While we applaud the FDA’s proposal to start regulating these tobacco products, it falls far short of what is needed to protect our youth,” Schneiderman said.

Electronic cigarettes contain no tobacco but do contain nicotine, giving them the addictive qualities of regular cigarettes, Schneiderman said.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine was among those seeking the tougher regulations. He was a co-author of the National Association of Attorneys General policy on e-cigarettes that led to the request to the FDA, spokesman Dan Tierney said.

DeWine is particularly concerned that e-cigarettes and vapor products are being marketed and sold to minors with flavors that appeal to children, Tierney said.

Earlier this year, Gov. John Kasich proposed increasing Ohio’s cigarette tax — and taxing e-cigarettes for the first time as tobacco at the same rate — but lawmakers balked.

The FDA is spending $270 million over five years on more than 45 research projects intended to inform its regulations of e-cigarettes.

More than 14 million U.S. adults, almost 2 million teenagers and children ages 10 to 12 have used e-cigarettes.

In an email, an FDA spokeswoman declined to comment on the request from the attorneys general but said bringing

e-cigarettes under the agency’s authority was “an important consumer protection.”

Electronic cigarette makers will have to register with the FDA, adhere to minimum age and identification restrictions to prevent sales to underage youth and include health warning labels, among other obligations, the email said.